KEITH CRAIN: It's time for the greatest show on Earth

With apologies to the circus, we are lucky enough to have the best car show in the world right here on our doorstep.

I have always felt that the best change they could make in car dealerships would be to have all the cars of the same class in the same showroom. If I were interested in a luxury model, I could check them all out without having to drive from showroom to showroom.

Same for sports cars, electric vehicles or trucks. Put them all under one roof and let me check them out at the same time.

Well, once a year, at Cobo Center, they listen to me. I can check them all out at my leisure.

The auto companies have been nice enough to spend quite literally millions of dollars on their displays. They have new vehicle introductions, prototypes and show cars that will wet our whistles for the next few months until they are for sale.

All those millions spent were for the benefit of the journalists from around the world who visit for a few days and file stories and interviews in publications all over the globe.

But the displays, cars and trucks remain for us to check out and drool over. There is simply no other car show in North America that even comes close to offering what this North American International Auto Show has for us.

The business part of the show is over. Now we get to enjoy the public show. Not only do we get to see cars and trucks the rest of the country won't see for several months, we get all the economic benefits of the business part of the show.

I really like the opportunity to see all the vehicles under one roof. And happily our roof has been fixed and remodeled to make it a proper venue for this very big and bright circus. Cobo Center has never looked better, and the millions of dollars that they spent were well worth it.

If you don't like cars and trucks, then your best bet is to stay away. But if, like most of us, you've got some gasoline in your blood, then come down and enjoy the greatest show on Earth.

I never get tired of this show. It's the greatest on Earth — and it's an economic powerhouse for our community.

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